Mushrooms, Green Beans, Broccoli Salad Bowl 蘑菇蔬菜主食沙拉

Salad-bowl meal is becoming standard lunch routine at least twice a week in my family. Not only it is healthy and nutritious, it is also a balanced meal if you build it correctly. This is also a great way to incorporate the day's veggie and fiber intake.

The more often I make salad-bowl meals e.g. Chicken, Veggies and Potatoes with Turmeric Dressing, Mixed Green Salad and Egg with Avocado Dressing, the easier it gets.

This is typically how I create my salad-bowl meals with an emphasis on vegetables, packed along with lean proteins, fiber-packed grains and good fats.


Vegetables - Target a variety by using colors e.g. red (bell peppers, beets), orange(carrots), yellow (corn), green(broccoli, green beans, zucchini), purple (cabbage) etc.

Proteins - Egg is typically my first choice as it is the easiest complete protein to prepare. Add legumes/beans, tofu/tempeh, or your choice of lean protein (e.g. chicken breast, wild salmon, sardines)

Grains /complex carbohydrates - Quinoa, millet, potatoes,sweet potatoes, brown rice, wheat pasta, legumes/beans, lentils

Good Fats - extra-virgin olive oil which typically manifests as the salad dressing; avocado which can also be salad dressing or stand-alone as an element to the salad bowl. Lean protein such as salmon or sardines is also a form of good (omega-3) fats.

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Easy Healthy Homemade Muesli 坚果综合籽燕麦片

First and foremost, I do not know if this can still be called granola because I have skipped the WET process, Yes, no honey, no any-kind of syrup. It is solely made from DRY ingredients - mainly organic rolled oats, nuts (walnuts in this recipe), seeds (sprouted pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds and watermelon seeds), just a little dried fruits (raisins) and ground cinnamon.


Muesli might be a better representation but I toasted the oats (whereas in traditional muesli, the oats are raw, and not toasted). The purpose of toasting the oats is to bring out an extra layer of nutty flavor.

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Zucchini, Tofu, Woodear Mushrooms Salad 西葫芦豆腐黑木耳沙拉

This is an easy side-dish to make from zucchini "noodles"; and kitchen-friendly especially in the hot summer days when you want to spend less time behind the stove. As each ingredient is finely julienned to thin strips, they cook almost instantly, either with a brisk sauté or quick blanching.


If you prefer to have it all raw, you can. However, a lot of Chinese salad-type dishes e.g. Luffa (Loofah) Salad do not recommend entirely raw food due to the "cooling" properties of raw food. In Chinese food therapy, consuming raw food regularly when one has a heaty (yang) body-type will not be an issue but when one has a more "cooling" (yin) inner body-system, it is best to cook the ingredients slightly. Another reason to cook it, is to prevent the possible contamination  of consuming raw ingredients/food.

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Mixed Green Salad with Avocado Dressing 鳄梨沙拉酱

Most times I like to keep my homemade salad and dressing simple e.g. Purple Cabbage & Orange Salad and Bean Salad. Besides my favorite basic oil-vinegar-garlic dressing, the next go-to is turmeric-based, and then comes this creamy avocado dressing. nailed to perfection when the avocado is over-ripe.


How it excites me when my favorite organic Earthbound salad greens goes on sale.

I love using Earthbound organic salad greens because most importantly, they are organic and has been triple-washed. That means, I can use them straight from the box without having to rinse (and dry) the leaves again, saving plenty of time.

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